Toasting Christmas

Christmas and New year is a time when we take stock and see where we have been and where we are going.

It prompts a lot of situations were we may be asked to express our views. Are you prepared for that ?

A recent member of our clubs told me about that he was going to complete a hero challenge in relation to putting a load of effort in enabling him to become a good speaker. The idea is put in a big burst of effort to reap the rewards. He is going to do a full year in toastmasters and fully participate and get through the set program to get him to where he want to be.

If you are a toast master you will be well able to make any announcements in front of friends family or in front of your work colleges if the needs arise.

It just reminds us that the ability to be able to speak is a very valuable skill. In toastmasters we teach too types of speaking situations.

The first type of speaking situation that we prepare you for is where you are asked to do a prepared speech. This is typically 5-7 minutes which is a long time to be talking when you consider that no speak can really hold an audience for longer that 20 minutes before people begin to lose interest. You have to prepare the speech and if possible do it without the assistance of notes. If you can do this you will corner the ability to be able to make a prepared speech in work and it will be valuable skill for life

The second type of speaking situation we prepare you for is for off the cuff speech of about 2 minutes. A topic will be put to you and you have to instantly come up with something to say about it. Its certainly a challenge but over time you get used to it and improve. After a season of toastmasters you will never really be completely lost for words you will have handled so may different topics at that stage.

Be ready to do a great job toasting the season in 2020 start now.